Telmo Herrera

So today we had a very inspirational, at least for me, lecture from actor, writer, and director Telmo Herrera. Now don't feel completely uncultured if you've never heard of him, because I was the same. However, he is a very popular theatre director in Paris and directed a version of Un Air de Famille, a play that we read in my Paris Aujourd'hui class.


Besides having a sweet beard, this man also had very relevant words to say to us as American students studying in Paris. Born in Quito, Ecuador, Telmo has since lived in Australia, Canada, Germany and the United States before finally settling down in France in 1978. Beyond analyzing his "mise en scène" (or direction), of the play, Telmo was really able to connect to us as a fellow foreigner who fell in love with the Parisian way of life. Or as he so eloquently put it: "J'ai resté à Paris pour l'amour. C'était un coup de foudre" (I stayed in Paris for love. It was love at first sight).

I also had the privilege of interviewing Telmo myself, as part of my classwork, and I truly admired the way he was able to deftly express himself, even in a language that was not his own. It shows me that if you really love a place, or a language as the case may be, it is completely possible to make it your own.

If any of you can get your hands on the play or the film Un Air de Famille, I highly recommend it!!

Bisous

Emily Saltzberg...

...this very important blog post is for you.


to show the wonders of color saturation :)

Bisous

Quelques Photos

Since I can't figure out how to add a legitimate slideshow, here are some visual tidbits to tide you over until I get my photobucket up and running! Bisous

Slacking Blogger Part Deux

So here we go as I attempt to fit a month of Parisian experiences into one post.

I would have to say that February has been a fairly uneventful month, at least in terms of actual events that are worth telling. However, this month has been rich with other types of experiences. As the month has progressed, not only has the weather improved, but so has our acclimation. With each day, I've started to feel more and more at home in this city and with the French way of life. It's difficult to concretely put into words, but the vibe of the city really meshes with my personality and seeing the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Invalides, the Louvre, and the countless other monuments that are the status quo in Paris, never fail to inspire awe and appreciation. I mean, let's be honest, how many people can say their school is a block from the EIFFEL TOWER-probably the most iconic structure in the world! Something I also forgot to mention in the last post was how grateful my trip to Geneva made me. While I absolutely loved my trip and had so much fun, I cannot possibly feel any luckier to be in the city and the program I am in, I even woke up that Saturday morning feeling homesick for Paris!!!

My friend Teo from BU, my future roommate for those of you who don't know, came to visit for a weekend and that was something else that made me feel more like a local, or at least some semblance of one. Being able to easily guide someone through such a famous city was quite an accomplishment! And while I can't speak for her, I think that was one of the best weekends I've had since being here!!

Another event on the catching up to-do list is my interview for my internship. It went swimmingly and was more of a formal offer meeting rather than an interview. So it's official. As of March 15, I will be employed at Le Musée en Herbe, which is essentially an interactive art/culture museum for kids aged 5-12. For you Californians, its basically Hands on Art but in a museum setting. Right now they're running an exhibition (or exposition à français) on Andy Warhol. So the kids walk through the main exhibition hall (which is decorated to resemble Warhol's workshop in New York) and there are various games and little activities they can participate in that teach them more about the artist and his style. Afterwards, they get to do a related art project based on the exhibition. Since I can't really lead tours, seeing as my vocabulary level is about that of a 5 year old anyway, I'm pretty sure my job with consist of making sure these kids don't eat paint. But ça va, because I will be around little french kids ALL DAY EVERYDAY! Epic win.

This week also marks the end of the first half of the program (aka the classes), and then it's finals on Friday and then, more importantly, SPRING BREAK in Barcelona and Morocco-Casablanca, Rabat, and Marrakech to be more precise. I can't believe my time here is already half over, it feels like I just got here! But I'm looking forward to all the experiences my internship surely holds for me. I'm sure after a week, I will have much to comment on regarding professional life in France. Until then, mes chéries!

Bisous

I'm in Switzerland, therefore I'm Neutral

Salut from Paris! I apologize as it seems I've become horribly lax on my blogging, there's just been so much to do and I hardly know where to begin!

Let's start with a recap of my weekend in Geneva, I'll do my best to remember the details seeing as this was essentially a month ago (how time flies when you're being European!). Going from Paris to Geneva was basically going from one end of the spectrum to another; the best way I can think of describing it would be like going from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. Both are nice, but completely different.

Geneva, as I was told, is pretty much an overgrown mountain village. Take Aspen, with about a hundred thousand more people, add lots of chocolate, watches, and banks, and poof, you have Geneva. With a population of just over 300,000, it's even smaller than Long Beach and I have no idea how much smaller than Paris. But as any resident will tell you, no one comes to Geneva for the bustling atmosphere or bumpin nightlife...in Switzerland, it's all about the Alps! Unfortunately for me, February in Europe was not cooperating, so the best view I got of the mountains was in the plane on the way back to Paris.

That being said, it was a great trip. It was wonderful being reunited with my BU ladies on another continent and it was a good experience to compare other BU abroad programs and obviously another country. It was a little ironic to me, however, that I probably spoke more French that weekend than I would in an entire week in Paris. This was mostly because the Geneva students aren't required to take french courses, thus many of them speak little to none of it. Also, Switzerland in general is composed mostly of foreigners, so they don't automatically start speaking in English at the first hint of an accent!

I won't even BEGIN to recount the worst day of my life, which was the day I tried to get back to Paris but let's just say that EasyJet is now my nemesis and forever on my "I hope they die and burn" list. Stay tuned for part II of this post!

La Semaine d'Enfer

So whoever told me that Paris is an easy semester should really kill themselves for telling such a heinous lie. Unlike my dear classmates in other programs, who are breezing through their abroad programs (going to Bondi Beach on Australia Day PAR EXEMPLE!), I'm attempting to memorize prepositions and past tenses while simultaneously putting together a presentation on Mondrian and writing a memory of my childhood. THIS WEEK SUCKS!

There is a very bright light at the end of the tunnel though. All ye who enter here, I HAVE NOT ABANDONED HOPE! That is because this weekend I'm taking my first excursion outside of France to the lovely Geneva, Switzerland!! Chocolate, beer, and Alps here I come! Even more exciting, for the tour guide in me, Teo will be visiting me the following weekend and acting like my surrogate boyfriend on Valentine's Day. TAKE THAT DANTE!

Bisous

The Most Exciting Experience in Paris...

...is making a real French friend. True story. Nothing is quite as exhilarating as making those first friends in a new city. Not friends of friends, not people in your program. Don't get me wrong, they're all great. But befriending a Parisian is akin to what I imagine conquering Everest is like. Now granted, get any Parisian drunk and tell them you're from America, they'll almost always want to be your friend for those 5 minutes. Sometimes being a girl from America feels like being an exotic animal on display...they've heard of your kind before but have never seen one up close. This is especially true for me because as soon as I utter those magic words: I'm from Los Angeles, the French come running with their choruses of "that's...that's SO COOL!!" Not that I blame them because, let's be honest, that would be me if our places were reversed. This is also why I think Parisians are so nice so far, because I'm somewhat of a novelty, or maybe better put, a curiosity. The funniest part about that last observation is every Parisian I've met has asked me what I think of Parisians, and when I reply that I find them quite nice so far, they are quite shocked and dismayed. They certainly don't have a lot of optimism when it comes to their peers!

Today, finally, after three weeks (talk about time flying when you're having fun!!), I made it to Montmartre, which is still to this day, my absolute favorite part of Paris. I didn't think it was possible, but I love it even more than I did before. Sacre Coeur, the street performers, all the tourists, even the Irish Pub where I bought my first drink in high school...it's all still there. I think I enjoyed it even more this time because we ventured farther into Montmartre where it wasn't quite--emphasis on the quite--as touristy. Camille and I also stopped for a while in the cutiest, tiniest cafe called La Maison Rose where I had the most amazing cup of Vin Chaud (or hot wine) ever. WHY DON'T WE HAVE THIS IN AMERICA PEOPLE??? Because it is truly divine. Also, why on earth have Americans not discovered the wonders of corner crepe stands? They are possibly the most delicious pieces of heaven ever. I also have to say, that Paris is FULL of talented musicians. They're not like street performers in America that usually have some sort of schtick they repeat over and over. These guys can really play. For example, a man on the metro had never heard "Save Tonight" by Eagle Eye Cherry, but was still able to play it by ear after we sang a few verses. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

That's all for now, this week is kind of a hell week school wise but I'll try to fit in some excitement for your reading pleasure!! If anyone has any questions or wants to know more about what I'm up to, feel free to shoot me an email: caileem@bu.edu

Bisous et a bientot!
Cailee